I will never forget a Les Paul Tribute video that came out around 1984. Les was playing with some contemporary artists at the time, and he and Eddie Van Halen were sitting on stools trading licks. During the session, Eddie sat there in awe, the look on his face was ""WOW".
When you realize how he played with limited effects and processing, you know the man was a true virtuoso. He would drop 3 and 4 note pull offs like he was playing a single note.
(Oh yeah, and he pioneered multi-track recording). We have certainly lost a true legend.